Community Chat

[newname0]

Terrible thing to happen close to Easter but something about combustible dust in the air.

[newname0]

[ollie5]

Such a shame, probably won t affect them this Easter. Most of the candy has been in the stores for a couple months now. Loss of life is so tragic, prayers for the families!

[Kachina624]

@newname0    A little detail on where and when this happened as well as cause and injuries would be appreciated. 

A picture may be worth 1,000 words but that's not enough. 

[deepwaterdotter]

Whatever news channel my husband has on stated that the factory was in West Reading, Pennsylvania.

[Mersha]

WEST READING, Pa. (CBS) -- One person was found alive in the rubble and rescue efforts continue after an explosion at the R.M. Palmer Company chocolate factory in Berks County, Pennsylvania, local officials said in a news conference Saturday morning.

West Reading Mayor Samantha Kaag said two people are confirmed dead and five are still missing after the explosion at the factory on South Second Avenue in West Reading Friday.

"The discovery of life overnight ... provides hope that others still may be found," police chief Wayne Holben said. Rescuers are using specialized equipment like K9s and imaging technology looking for signs of life.

"We had about 8 go to the hospital last night, but we can't speculate on their condition or on if there's any more or less," Kaag said. "Unfortunately it's a tragic event that we're still gathering information on."

The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency had said five people were dead, but later told CBS News Philadelphia the death toll was two.

[Kachina624]

Thank you, @Mersha. 

I did student teaching in Reading about a hundred years ago. 

[RedTop]

As much as kids love candy, my girls would never eat Palmer brand chocolate candy.

[sabatini]

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@RedTop wrote:

As much as kids love candy, my girls would never eat Palmer brand chocolate candy.

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Me too.

It's certainly a tragedy that such an event occurred, but Palmer candy is horrible.

Almost 40 years ago, I worked at CVS.

After Easter, my boss asked me to throw away the unsold Palmer Easter chocolates, but instead, I took lots of it home, figuring that I'd chop it up, and use it to make chocolate chip cookies. 

They were awful, and that stuff didn't even melt! Not even close to real chocolate, but more like brown plastic.

Threw the whole mess out, along w/ the stuff I'd brought home.

I felt sorry for anyone who'd ever bought it.

[catter70]

A real tragedy. I saw that on my local news this morning.